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Prodigy video under review by MuchMusic

British
band Prodigy's new sexually explicit video, Smack
My Bitch Up, has been airing for a week on MTV in
the U.S., but MuchMusic is still weighing its options.

"It's approved for late night airing," Sarah
Crawford, MuchMusic's director of communications,
said yesterday. Late night means after 9 p.m.

"In other words, we're contemplating playing
it late at night or putting it in context with a panel
who can discuss it. It's a decision that Denise Donlon,
our VP and GM, might make at some point. "

The graphic video is told from the point of
view of a hard-drinking, coke-snorting, car-stealing
protagonist whose night out involves groping women,
getting into fights, throwing up repeatedly, and winding
up at a stripper bar where one of the performers is
taken home for a sex romp that leaves nothing to the
imagination.

Crawford said the video is "pretty adult and
there's an implication of real violent behavior. MuchMusic's
philosophy is to take a hard line against violence.
And it's one of those frustrating things because a
lot of people here, myself included, think as a piece
of filmmaking it's a beautiful thing. "

MTV is airing Smack My Bitch Up between 1-5
a.m., with a verbal warning and shots of female genitalia
blurred out.

Crawford said MuchMusic's policy is not to edit
or alter videos, but to play it or reject it.

Prodigy is already in hot water with the National
Organization For Women in the U.S. for allegedly promoting
domestic abuse.